San Japan adds new sights and sounds for its 10th anniversary

For 2017, the San Japan anime and Japanese pop culture convention in San Antonio promises a major “Final Fantasy” theme, with all sorts of audio and visual nods to the hit video game franchise. For the ears, that includes “A New World,” an intimate orchestral performance of “Final Fantasy” music from the producers of “Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy.”

For 2017, the San Japan anime and Japanese pop culture convention in San Antonio promises a major “Final Fantasy” theme, with all sorts of audio and visual nods to the hit video game franchise. For the ears, that includes “A New World,” an intimate orchestral performance of “Final Fantasy” music from the producers of “Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy.”

San Japan has come a long way from its early days of herding sweaty cosplayers between venues in the summer heat — 10 years and one cooler, more elevated setting, to be exact.

Rolling with the designation San Japan X, San Antonio’s big anime and Japanese pop culture convention celebrates its 10th anniversary Labor Day Weekend with a gaggle of new thrills and plenty of classic fun for all those super-passionate fans lovingly referred to as otaku. San Japan runs Sept. 1 through Sept. 3 at the Convention Center.

This year’s theme? Only one of the greatest role-playing video game franchises to ever win over Japan and the world beyond.

“Really it’s ‘Final Fantasy’ everywhere at the con,” said S. David Ramirez, community relations director for San Japan.

New highlights at San Japan include “A New World,” a live orchestral performance of “Final Fantasy” music with Japanese composer Naoshi Mizuta, plus special guests that voice characters in the “Final Fantasy” games, such as Ray Chase (“Noctis”) and Robbie Daymond (“Prompto”), and even a “Final Fantasy” theme for the convention’s always-popular formal masquerade ball.

That’s in addition to a couple of big names out of Japan looking to make some serious noise in the Alamo City: San Japan X marks the final United States performance of the Japanese punk rock band All Off and the S.A. debut of the popular Japanese fashion brand, Listen Flavor.

Then there’s all the usual animated madness at San Japan, such as the many interactive panels and activities as well as artists and vendors. And don’t forget the colorful cosplay, where con-goers bring the likes of Pikachu, Sailor Moon and other beloved characters to life in the most dynamic handmade and special-ordered costumes to ever grace the convention floor and stage of the Lila Cockrell Theatre.

And to think it all started with an anime convention that almost wasn’t.

The first San Japan was slated as a three-day event in July 2007, but was postponed due to location issues. Instead, it launched as sort of a single-day beta event called San Japan: Zero Day Anime, which hosted around 800 at Our Lady of the Lake University on Nov. 10, 2007.

The first official three-day convention followed in August 2008 with San Japan 1.5. The “1.5” couldn’t have been more apropos; San Japan split its fun between the El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel and what used to be the nearby San Antonio Municipal Auditorium, now the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.

The dual setup came with its most memorable godsend — a series of water stations along Lexington Avenue between the Municipal and El Tropicano to hydrate all those sunbaked attendees trekking between hotspots.

San Japan would move on to the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel in 2010, then to its current home at the Convention Center in 2012. Today, it’s billed as the largest anime convention in South Texas, with last year’s show drawing around 16,300.

Not bad for an event that literally began with local fans thirsting for an anime convention experience in San Antonio.

“It’s kind of crazy to think we were just in the basement of the Municipal (Auditorium) and now we’re in year 10,” Ramirez said. “A decade goes by real quick.”